5. Policy and Research Priorities

The period since World War II has seen remarkable growth in
agricultural production and productivity in the developing world. While in many
farming areas this growth has apparently been sustainable, in others it derived
from two unsustainable processes: the clearing of new lands of lower productive
potential or higher vulnerability, and the intensification of production by
mining or destroying the soil resource base. The challenge of feeding and
supplying the much larger population projected to live in the developing
countries by 2020 has to be met not only by raising production from current
levels, but by substituting for supplies no longer available from land-clearing,
by finding sustainable methods of intensive production on soils not previously
used for this purpose, and by substituting for or rehabilitating degraded soils
where there is continuing demand for their use.

Leaders in the economic and agricultural development
communities, as well as environmentalists, must draw the attention of
policymakers to soil degradation concerns and work with them to set priorities
for public investment, farmer services, and policy. A necessary though not
sufficient step is to provide supportive policies for broad-based agricultural
development. Targeted policies and investments will also be needed to address
many serious degradation problems. Better characterization and diagnosis of soil
degradation effects will be needed to guide and support these efforts.

Support Policies for Broad-Based Agricultural Development

If the 2020 Vision policy agenda (IFPRI 1995) is seriously
pursued, many soil degradation problems can self-correct to a
considerable extent by 2020. Farmer investment in known land-husbandry
technologies should increase where agricultural markets perform more
effectively, reducing the costs of inputs and increasing farmgate output prices;
where profitable farming opportunities raise the value of agricultural land;
where technological change makes higher, sustainable yields possible; and where
land tenure is secure. In some areas, in such a supportive policy environment,
simply promoting information dissemination about good land husbandry practices
and supporting research on technologies to reduce conservation costs may be
sufficient for addressing degradation concerns.

Target Land-Improving Policies, Investments, and Research

It is doubtful, however, that indirect policies will be enough.
Agricultural growth can have mixed effects on resources, due to widespread lack
of information, institutional failures, and market failures. And many areas
cannot count on having a dynamic economy or suitable technology. An integral
element of development strategies to promote the 2020 Vision must be the
policies, investment, and research that promote soil protection and
rehabilitation where soil quality most affects agricultural supply, economic
growth, rural welfare, or long-term national wealth.

Soil rehabilitation demands going well beyond simply applying
fertilizer to replace chemical nutrients; it may involve restoring organic
matter, improving soil structure and waterholding capacity, controlling the flow
of water across fields, restoring soil flora and fauna, buffering acidity, and
establishing vegetative cover. Community- and watershed-scale planning will
often be needed in the transformation to more sustainable, higher-productivity
landscapes.

However, efforts to improve soil quality must complement - not
substitute for - other types of agricultural investments, and reflect economic
realities and farmer resource constraints. Conservation efforts should maintain,
stabilize, or increase productivity, not necessarily optimize soil condition.
Direct action and research interventions must be designed to fit specific
development pathways, farming systems, soil types, and degrees of degradation.

Densely Populated Marginal Lands

Policy action in densely populated marginal lands should focus
explicitly on improving soil quality as a key element in increasing yields and
reducing risk and yield variability. Nutrient depletion can be addressed by
increasing nutrient inputs and improving nutrient use efficiency; reducing
nutrient off-take (that is, reducing harvests) is not often a reasonable option.
Chemical fertilizers will play an increasingly important role as marketing costs
decline. However, few of the vulnerable soils on these lands can be managed
intensively and sustainably over time with chemical nutrient applications alone.
Organic matter management is critical for protecting the physical structure of
soils and using nutrients efficiently (Sanchez et al. 1997). For soil types that
cannot sustain continuous cultivation, economically productive perennials and
cover crops must be incorporated into the farming rotation (Garrity 1998;
Tengberg and Stocking 1997). For areas still not well integrated into markets in
2020 (much of Africa and the remote mountains) and for farmers who practice
subsistence production, low-cost sources of plant nutrients must be found
urgently to replace or supplement fertilizer use. Beyond nutrient maintenance,
policies are needed to help farmers organize and finance investment in land
improvements.

The research challenge is immense: to develop nutrient
management systems for specific soils, low-cost soil rehabilitation techniques,
and economical methods for incorporating more perennial plants in farming
landscapes. Profitable systems to manage local forest and grazing lands are
needed to justify good land husbandry. The more effective soil management
practices from intensive farming systems need to be documented and shared with
farmers working with similar soils elsewhere and who have only recently begun
the transition to intensive systems.

Irrigated Lands

The two priority policy actions to combat irrigated land
degradation are fairly well known: improve system- and farm-level water
management regimes and invest in proper drainage systems where this has not been
done. Plans must be made to retire lands that are irreversibly degrading with
minimal disruption to farm communities. Diversification to higher-value crops
may help to justify reinvestments in irrigation systems and higher-priced water.

Priorities for research include exploring problems of
micronutrient depletion and other soil-related factors that may lead to yield
stagnation, identifying effective water management regimes, developing low-cost
methods to control or reverse salinization, and utilizing saline lands.

High-Quality Rainfed Lands

Policy action for high-quality rainfed lands must seek to better
integrate technology development and extension for productivity growth with good
soil husbandry through tillage practices, agricultural machinery use, and
agrochemical management. Market-based mechanisms should be developed to improve
distribution systems for fertilizers that reduce cost, improve nutrient balance,
and encourage complementary use of organic nutrients. Recommendations will vary
with changing ratios of output to nutrient prices.

Research priorities must develop recommendations and
technologies for fertilizer and organic nutrient management for specific soils,
climates, and crops and identify or develop low-cost organic nutrient sources
for smallholder producers. New biotechnology and other technical advances should
be designed for integration into sustainable resource management systems.

Urban and Peri-Urban Agricultural Lands

Much of the policy action needed to promote better soil quality
in urban and peri-urban agriculture is institutional. Zoning rules, land access,
controls on agricultural land conversion, and regulation of agrochemicals and
livestock waste disposal need to be changed to improve the security of urban
farming. Community gardening opportunities on public and unutilized private land
should be protected and promoted.

Research priorities need to focus on designing technologies to
improve the use of urban waste products in soil nutrient management and
livestock feed and minimize toxic agrochemical use. Studies are needed to
understand the patterns and strategies for controlling livestock disease in
urban environments. Physical and institutional barriers to protect farmland from
urban soil pollutants also need to be developed.

Extensive Agriculture in Marginal Lands

In extensive agricultural systems, policy action should aim to
limit the environmental damage of farming practices at a minimal cost to farmers
and help farmers make the transition to more sustainable short-fallow or
permanent cultivation systems. Extensive farming can only be regulated or
prohibited economically in a small number of strategic sites. Farmers need
support from extension services to farm lightly on the land using
technologies that do not require high labor use or purchased inputs. Mosaic
patterns of land-clearing and controlled burning can be encouraged on cropland
and rotational grazing and grazing reserves on rangeland, in order to maintain
more natural vegetation. In areas with vulnerable soils, policies that raise the
value of forest and tree products can reduce land clearing, raise local incomes,
and initiate a long-term transition to an economy based on permanent crops.
Improved employment opportunities for the landless outside agriculture, in other
farming areas, or in forest management can reduce farmer incentives to clear new
lands. Infrastructure investments need to be concentrated in areas of existing
settlement.

Research should focus on technologies for low-input farming,
higher-value products that encourage spatial concentration of production, and
perennial crops. Crop, forest, or range management systems will ideally meet
both local economic and broader environmental objectives, justifying the
transfer of re sources from outside the region to help finance this dual agenda.

Identify Priority Soil Degradation Problems

Currently available data are insufficient to guide and
prioritize such targeted policy action. Accurate information is needed on the
actual areas and farming communities where serious soil degradation - and soil
improvement - are taking place, and the nature of the effects on agricultural
supply, economic growth, rural poverty, and soil wealth. Analysis should focus
on the subnational level, where soil quality change and its effects can be
meaningfully measured and interpreted, and where policies need to be
implemented. National and international priorities can best be developed by
aggregating this subnational information.

The design of sampling frames and the collection of agricultural
production, farm income, and rural poverty data need to be made spatially
explicit, or at least the different land classes, agroclimatic zones, land use
intensities, market environments, and types of producers should be distinguished
from each other. For the design of specific interventions, more detail is needed
on type of soil, resilience from and sensitivity to degradation, and management
history. Advances in remote sensing methods (for example, in spectrome-try) will
soon offer the potential for monitoring key soil characteristics on a large
scale. International support is needed to expand resource characterization and
monitoring systems such as the international soil and terrain database (SOTER),
the Land Quality Indicator program (Pieri et al. 1995), and the global database
on farmer use of conservation technologies (WOCAT 1997), which draw on a mix of
information from remote sensing, spatially informed agricultural and household
surveys, and key informants.

Geographic information systems can be used to integrate and
manage databases of various types and spatially analyze the economic effects of
soil quality change. Time-series data can be used to explore the relationships
between soil quality change over time and farm management, local economic and
social conditions, and the policy environment. Soil quality indicators can be
incorporated into economic and policy modeling of agricultural trends at
subregional and national scales. Where adequate information about the links
among soil quality, degradation, and productivity and the geographic location of
problems exists, models can help identify priorities for action. Where
information is sparse, modeling can help identify priority data needs and
encourage dialogue among soil, agricultural, and environmental experts,
policymakers, and the larger agricultural community.

Economists need to use more creative methods to analyze the
effects of soil degradation on agricultural supply, in order to reflect the
geographic structure of production, the price effects, and the consumer and
producer responses to those effects in different geographic regions. Studies of
the effects of soil degradation on agricultural income (including multiplier
effects) and rural poverty similarly require more systematic design and
analysis. More conceptual work is still needed to determine appropriate methods
for evaluating soil wealth.

Final Comment

We should not take lightly the long-term economic threat of
accelerating soil degradation. Historical evidence suggests that the economic
decline of empires in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley was due, at least in
part, to widespread salinization and waterlogging of irrigated lands, while
decline in ancient Israel, Lebanon, Greece, and Rome was due to topsoil loss in
the rainfed uplands of the Mediterranean (Hillel 1991). We have more knowledge
and tools at our disposal today, but the output demands and pace of change in
soil resource management have also vastly accelerated. The difficulties of
measuring and valuing soil quality changes and their effects mean we must
approach the challenge with care. However, this should not deter economists and
policymakers, but rather inspire them to focus greater attention on soil quality
management as a central natural resource issue for sustainable agriculture in
the developing
world.